CHF

[DLee76]

Thanks guys for answering my last question. My cardiologist told me that I have cardiomyopathy that caused chf. I am a 53 yr old female. I went to a social security Dr and he told me that once your diagnosed with chf that the average life span is 5 years..... How true is this??? I am devastated, please help me. = (

[cath911]

Just to add. To be told the average life expectancy is 5 yrs is a bit silly. Every case is individual and averages don't work in these situations. There are patients who live over 30 years with CHF, so you cannot possibly say what your prognosis is. In the past, many cardiologists have tried to estimate a patients life expectancy, but these have been far exceeded, due to the reasons stated by jrbon. Now cardiologists usually say "I can't tell you".

[cath911]

Research is pushing boundaries and making new discoveries continuously, I mean on a daily basis. A young girl in the UK had heart failure, I think she was about 8 years old. They put her on a transplant list and fitted her with a bypass unit. In the UK, donors are very short in supply and after a couple of months it was noticed how her heart seemed to be recovering. This had never been seen before. A month later, they removed the bypass unit and took her off the transplant list because her heart was normal. However, two weeks later, it failed again and the bypass unit was put back on. Her heart recovered completely again, and trying to understand what was going on, the unit was removed a few months later because her heart had once again fully recovered. This time she has been off the bypass unit for over a year and her heart is working normally still. They are still working out how the heart recovered but it seems if it's allowed to rest with a LVAD or bypass unit, it seems to recover a large amount, in many cases back to normal. I know this is all still in research, but many patients in the UK heart hospitals now have bypass units or VLAD devices, giving them marked improvement. Stem cell research has led to human hearts being grown in labs. They take a pig heart, strip it of cells, leaving only a frame work, then stem cells are taken from a patient, and placed on the framework. Within just weeks, a fully functioning heart is beating in the lab which can be transplanted with no rejection issues. I believe this will be available to patients in the next decade. I'm personally glad they started with the heart, because they believe they can grow new Livers, kidneys etc, basically everything except a brain. If we had been born a few decades ago, I doubt if any of us on this forum would be alive to be typing. We are in a wonderful time of understanding and discovery.

[Flycaster305]

It's been seven years for me, I'm still as Sir Elton suggests, I'm still standing!

[erijon]

Much depends on the cause and type of your cardiomyopathy as well as your current EF% and heart function. Can you give a few more details as well as what stage CHF you have been classified as?

Again, there have been many updated studies along with new drugs that help prolong life. I know people that have lived with this diagnosis for over 10 years and still going strong.

A few more details will help.

Jon

[curmudgen]

Here is a great article to read.  I think you will find it very informative. http://www.medicinenet.com/congestive_heart_failure/article.htm